Jay Gatsby: The Gold-hatted, Bouncing Lover

 Jay Gatsby is the epitome of the epigraph in the beginning of the novel, as he is willing to do everything in his power to get Daisy, even if it means living a lie.  

One of Gatsby’s main reasons for relating to the epigraph is that he made up an entire backstory for himself to impress Daisy.  In chapter 4, Gatsby was determined to set the record straight by telling Nick the true story about himself.  (This was farther from the truth, actually.)  He described himself to be “the son of some wealthy people in the Middle West [who] are all dead now.”  From here, he said he inherited his money from his family.  This makes the readers question his authenticity; if he had family money, why is he living in West Egg instead of East Egg?  Nick goes on to question Gatsby further by asking where he was from, and Gatsby said San Francisco, which is clearly not in the Midwest.  This throws even more doubt into the story.  

Gatsby went on to say he was “educated at Oxford” and roamed the capitals of Europe “collecting jewels, chiefly rubies.”  Afterwards, he discussed how he worked his way up in the army in WWI, and for his heroic feats, “every Allied government gave [him] a decoration.”  At this point, Nick and the reader are making the ‘this is BS’ face, as the story seems extraordinarily fabricated.  However, Gatsby has planned for this by having a medal from Montenegro and a picture of him in his cricket gear, seemingly at Oxford.  Although we later find out this is all false, this temporarily makes both us and Nick believe him.  

Believe it or not, this was the most crucial time to tell Nick this fabricated story.  This is because Gatsby had arranged Jordan to speak with Nick about Gatsby’s and Daisy’s past love and Gatsby wanted to have Nick think of him in a good light.  To prove this point further, Gatsby told Nick “‘I didn’t want you to think I was just some nobody.’”  Right now, Nick must see Gatsby as a good and worthy person because Gatsby knows that Nick’s feelings will likely rub off on Daisy and he needs Nick’s approval for Gatsby’s and Daisy’s reunification.  

Gatsby’s real story is sharply different from Gatsby’s true story.  Jay Gatsby was born James Gatz and had “unsuccessful farm people” as parents.  He attended “a small Lutheran college of St. Olaf’s in southern Minnesota” but dropped out two weeks later.  Gatsby became the assistant of Dan Cody and Gatsby worked on Cody’s yacht until Cody died.  Although Cody left Gatsby money, the mistress of Cody ended up getting it.  This story is less than glamorous, and Gatsby knew that.  He knew that in order to get Daisy, who seemed to attract and ooze wealth, he must make himself the man of Daisy’s dreams.  In order to do this, he must live a life of wealth and glamour.  Everything that Gatsby did from the night that Daisy kissed him and on “had gone into loving Daisy.”

When Gatsby and Daisy reconnect, he does everything in his power to make her fall in love with him.  For example, Gatsby first wants to meet at Nick’s house.  This is because “[Gatsby] wants her to see his house” to impress her, but it can be inferred that Gatsby wants a neutral location that Daisy feels comfortable in, so Nick’s house is perfect as it is right next door to his.  To try and make a good first impression, Gatsby has Nick’s grass cut and abundant amounts of flowers and plants that Nick described as a “greenhouse” brought to the house.  Also, Gatsby dresses up in a “white flannel suit, silver shirt, and gold-colored tie.”  This outfit seems to be trying to show Daisy that he is rich (because of the gold and silver) and that he is a good, pure person (because of the white suit).  The reader can tell he is trying to impress because he looks quite stressed out, as he is “pale” and “has signs of sleeplessness.”  He is trying to show his wealth to Daisy and he is making huge efforts to do so, thus he relates to the epigraph.

After a bumpy start, Gatsby got it together and had a good conversation with Daisy.  He invited her over to his house, and when she saw it, she was amazed.  She exclaimed, “‘That huge place there?’ she cried pointing… ‘I love it…’”  The reader can see that he is starting to win over Daisy with his wealth and effort, like the epigraph advised.  Subsequently, he led her and Nick through the rooms of his house in order to show them off.  When he got to his wardrobe, he started frantically pulling shirts out to show Daisy how worthy he was.  At this point, Daisy cried, “‘They’re such beautiful shirts… It makes me sad because I have never seen such- such beautiful shirts.’” 

The actions by Gatsby ended up winning Daisy over.  Through the grandeur of his house, possessions, falsified back story, and the effort he put into his and Daisy’s encounter, he won Daisy over and made her love him once again, just as the epigraph said.